Bulgaria beat Korea 3-1 (19-25, 28-26, 25-14, 25-16) - duration 1:31
07-Sep, start time: 16:30, end time: 18:01 - Attendance: 5,667 Zetova secures Bulgaria's victory against Korea
Bulgaria took a surprising victory over Korea in the second round Pool F of the 2002 Women's World Championship. In the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart, Bulgarian Antonia Zetova brouht the victory to her team, scoring no less than 27 points. The number three of the 2001 European Championship has a great chance to proceed to the quarterfinal now. The Bulgarian team started with a lot of commitment and determination into the match. Following Friday's defeat against China, the Bulgarian coach Stefan Panchev had prepared his team in a better way to cope with the quick attacks of the Asian teams. But thanks to their strong defense the Koreans took the big points (12-9). Their quick attacks were often smashed into the opponent's court and the Korean lead was extended to 19-13. Based on a strong attacks of Antonina Zetova, the Bulgarians scored four consecutive points (17-19). But this was not enough. Korea finished the first set with a successful three-block (25-19). At the beginning of the second set, the Bulgarian team was playing more constantly. Blocking increasingly improved with Antonina Zetova being the top scorer in this phase of the set (14-16). After some unnecessary defense errors, the Bulgarians seemed to suffer a setback, but came back into the match and managed to keep the set open (26-26). Thanks to an excellent Zetova, Bulgaria won the set (28-26). During the third set, the unbeaten Korean team had problems in attack and defense. Bulgaria easily took a 18-13 lead and took control. The Asians did not find any answer against the strong and powerful Bulgarian play (14-25). In the fourth set, the Bulgarian setter Neli Neshich succeeded in preparing effective attacks for her team resulting in an advantage of 13-9. The Korean team could not stop Zetova in this phase of the game. Bulgaria won the set with 25-16 and was the first team to defeat Korea. Antonia Zetova was by far the best player of the match with 27 points
